I read it when I was in high school, and i hated it because with my teacher we only studied a few letters and didn't get the whole story. after seeing the film i understood it quite better and enjoyed it more.
1. Did you enjoy reading this style of novel in the form of letters? I enjoyed it because it"s original and create an impression of reality, it's a style that i discovered when as a teenager i read Meg Cabot's books.
2. Were you engaged immediately with the story, or did it take you a while to get into it? It took me a while because we studied it very slowly.
3. There are a lot of characters referenced mostly by their title instead of their name, did you find it difficult to remember who all the characters were? Yes at first i had to keep a paper with every name and character in the book to check whom letter i was reading.
4. Did you have a favourite character? And a least favourite? my favorite character was Valmont. i loved john Malkovich's interpretation of him.
5. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? 6. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? 7. Do you think the Marquise and the Vicomte deserved the fates they were given at the end of the story? I think the author had to give them these fates because they had to pay, at least in a book, because i doubt that in that time, people playing that kind of games weren't punished by "fate" as well.
8. We've already had some discussion on the differences a good translation can make, which edition and translation of the book did you read, and what did you think of the translation? I'm french, read it without translation.
9. Have you watched any film/television/theatre adaptations of this story? How successfully do you think they were?
I saw the 1988 version and loved it. I also watched the modern adaptation , cruel intention, and it was not bad, they stayed as close as possible to the book, but with an other situation. the two main actors of the movie played with much arrogance and pretention, just the way i imagined Merteuil and Valmont 10. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? yes it was but it might be different for someone who's not accustomed to read "des romans épistolaires"
11. Would you recommend the book to others?
I would but not to teenagers, because the style and the way of writting might bore them to death^^, most of them , like my sister, wouldn't have the tenacity to
keep until they understand the quality of the story.